Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Day: December 12, 2020

The Chromatics – Cherry (2014)
electronic pop

The Chromatics – Cherry (2014)

Dreamy, otherworldly pop, which for all its ethereal atmosphere, is a touch devoid of originality. Once one track is done, I feel like I’ve scoped the vibe for the entire album. Every track is delivered with the same pace; that same valiumed-up-to-my-eyeballs vocal delivery, regardless of who is behind the mic. That being said there are some solid tunes here, including a great version of “Shadow” (in the online version) and the various iterations of the title track. How amazing are both versions of the album art, though?

2wo – Voyeurs (1998)
metal

2wo – Voyeurs (1998)

Well isn’t this just awful. I was reading about Halford’s 90s musical excursions when I discovered he’d collaborated with John 5 on an industrial project. ‘What was all this then?’ I thought innocently to myself, but it was not long before the shitty, studded metal dildo that is 90s industrial fucked me once again. Like, this is not industrial music. The tag is used far too loosely. You can’t just get some heavy snare sounds, some robotic riffs and some crappy lyrics about being alone or horny or whatever and call that industrial. No, this is bland, boring, borderline nu metal tripe for greasy 90s kids with too much Brylcreem in their hair. Horrendously bad.

Witch – Witch (2006)
doom metal rock

Witch – Witch (2006)

I’ve been digging this album since I caught Witch at one of the two Roadburns I went to (can’t remember if it’s 2011 or the 2012 off the top of my head). I love their blend of stoner rock, it really works quite well. The guitars are crackling like fire over lazy, swaggering rock, and the vocals are energised and sultry.

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation (1970)
electronic

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation (1970)

The first Tangerine Dream full length is a fairly short affair and set the presidence for what the band would expand on in the coming albums over the early 70s. Don’t get me wrong, Electronic Meditation is great (how cool is that album name?) but there are much better examples of the band’s stunning synthesizer explorations that can be found in the same time period.

Daft Punk – Homework (1997)
electronic

Daft Punk – Homework (1997)

Coursing along on the pulse of the explosion of electronic and dance music in the 90s, Daft Punk introduce the wider world to their slick, sexy, and dare I say French approach to composing dance music. You hipster fucks can give this any ridiculous genre name you can care to pull out of your collective arses, but yes – this is dance music.

Megadeth – Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! (1985)
metal thrash metal

Megadeth – Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! (1985)

Megadeth’s first record is full of vitriol, hate and boundless energy. Its quite sad that Mustaine’s entire career has been a case of trying to one-up Metallica, but off the mark with Killing Is My Business…, it certainly shows that there are far worse motivations than this kind of thing. The album is fast and fairly heavy. I can’t get my head around the Megadeth “version” of “The Four Horsemen” but that’s a small price to pay.